The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, March 09, 1916, Page SIX, Image 6
FTI
SIX
The Diamoi
Fr
i v '
f CyROYL.
C( '^ righted j915, by Roy L,
This instalment of this romantic
novel and absorbing
narrative will be shown in motion
pictures at The Casino
Theatre on Thursday afternoon
a _ i. a.
sua nignt.
$10,000 For 1,000
Words or Less
For on Idea For. a Sequel to
"THE
DIAMOND FROM
THE SKY"
The American Film Manufac1
luring Company's Picturized
"i Romantic Novel In Chapters.
1
This contest is open to any man, |
< woman or child who is not connected.
win iiuiu i oil I ! I; I 111? 11V IS 11 * I 1 .XttllUI' attends
In disguise, hut is later h?*t rayed
by Hlair to the sheriff. By using daring
horsemanship Arthur escapes Later he
leaves the farm. Tom Blake, a detective
hired I jy I I a gar, produces linger prints con* j
victing Blair. 1 lunar proposes silence to
Mrs. Stanley as the price <>f Manor's and
Esther's hein.n received in Fairfax society.
Blair strikes down Manor and steals the
fingerprints, and money from his mother.
The diamond is found hy a negro hoy and
is taken hy a tramp. The latter is murdered
hy Hung Li. It Is stolon Just as a
humming party enters Hung Li's den.
Manor, mentally unbalanced by Blair's
blow, is again with Ksther among the
gypsies. Marmaduke Smythe, lawyer, arrives
to announce Arthur is heir to the
deceased Karl of Stanley. Learning Arthur
Is a fugitive he seeks Blair instead
To win Vivian, Blair steals the diamond,
later marrying her and lea'ving for the
west. Their train Is robbed, Vivian losing
the diamond, which, a slain train robber
-drops in the deeert. The $luu,0u0 he stole
i> found by Arthur, now known as John
il'owell. sheep herder. Vivian desert*
Jllair, telling him he must regain the diamond
for her. Luke Lovell, driven from
icamp after learning Magar's secret, tries
tin vain to aell it to Mrs. Stanley, and he
heaves to seek Hlair. llagar is under
- treatment and Rather Is in Richmond society.
protfgee of Mrs. Stanley, who sua
ipects her real name., and of 14rs. Kan?Jolph.
Abe Bloom, gambler, who knows
Blair's guilt, covets the diamond and calls
4t the pries of his secrecy.
1 CHAPTER XXI.
The Web ef Deetiny ?
RAGING at Vivian. 'Marston'a
cool dlamlseal of him afier ad
mitt tug she had mar-led him
only to galn^|MMieeeeioir of the
diamond from the sky, Blair Stanley
waa not wliolly pleased at receiving
money from his mother in Jtlchnioud
end news that he might return.
, lie had half a mind uot to go l>a<-k
id
om the Sky
McCARDEL
McCARDEL
to Kichmoud. t>ut he felt sure that
%here was small hope of getting trace
of the diamond now that it had falleu
Into the elutclies of the train robbers.
"Hut if Vivian gets it?and she will get
it If she hears of it?and such a gem
will make Its presence known." he
thought?"she must send for inc.
"Duly as my wife can she hope to
have any claim on the Stanley heirloom.
And if she will not have me
without the diamond site will have lo
I ..... .iiii. if
directly or indirectly, with the ritm
Company or the newspapers publishing
the continued story. No literary
ability is necessary to qualify as a
contestant. ,
You are advised to nee the continued
photo play in the theaters where it will
be shown to read the story as it runs
every week, and then send in your
suggestion. Contestants rnajt con- 1
fine their contributions for the sequel
to 1,000 tvords or lejs. It is
i the tdca that is wanted.
SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP- !
TERS.
A fciul has existed between Colonel Ar
jthur Stanley and his cousin. Jinlj;e l.ania:
Stanley, over an heirloom, the diamond |
from the sky. foutul in a fallen meteor b>
Jtn ancestor. Also, the succession to the
Stanley earldom In Knglnnd may come t'>
itn American. When a daughter is horn
to the colonel and the mother dies, the
colonel buys a gypsy hoy and substitutes
him. Three years later the gypsy mother,
having had no part in this bargain, steals
the girl, being reared in secret, and leaves
her son undetected as the heir. The gypay
has obtained possession of the diamond
from the sky, and a document with the
tStanley secret. When Ksther is grown a
beautiful young girl, llagar, now gypsy 1
queen, returns to Virginia with her. Dr. !
J^ee. the late Colonel Stanley's friend,
adopts Ksther, hut demands that liagar
turn over to him the diamond from the
eky. Arthur Stanley, son of llagar, falls
in love with Esther anil so does his companion
and cousin, Blair Stanley, rightful 1
male heir of Stanley. In stealing the ilia- j
mond Blair causes the death of the doctor.
Outside is Arthur serenading Ksther.
HI air, escaping, infers that he lias left
Ksther's room. Arthur forces him to
fight a duel in which Blair is only 1
stunned. lie tries, with tlie aid of Ids
mother-, to place the blame for the murder
of Dr. l.ee upon Arthur, who now has the '
diamond. The sheriff attempts to take i
Arthur, but lie eludes his pursuers and !
joins llagar. who reveals his identity and
upbraids him for his wild life. Needing ,
money, he pawns the diamond in iiich- |
mond. Blair is in lilchmond, and he, too. ,
is forced to visit tin 1 wnshop. At a ball, i
iit which a suppos... New York belle is I
the guest of honor, they are stunned to
find the diamond on the visitor .She is ,
an adventuress who has borrowed it.
lAike l.ovell. Ilngar's gypsy guard.
Pteals tlie diamond and to avoid detection
drops it into a mail box. A sheriff tries
to arrest Arthur on tlie murder charge
He escapes from Hichmomi on a freight
train. The diamond pusses into a man
hag, picked up by epiahha. organ grinder
Quahha's monkey steals the diamond.
Arthur seeks work at a farm, llagar i
takes Ksthet to live at Stanley hall. An j
Mil t v HIV" " n M 1
So Flair Stanley paid his hill at the
second rate Los Angeles hotel and. tak
I ing Ids valise, proceeded to the depot
i to take the train hack east. He won
i dered if anything had heen heard in
i Kicliinond or Fairfax of the missing
Arthur Stanley, the right fid heir.
Me smiled as he thought of Arthur's
ipiixotie nature ^n tteeing as a fugitive
accused of a crime he was guiltless of
t he murder of I>r. Lee.
"I would like to see myself he such a
fool simply heen use 1 had gone broke j
through wasting my money," was |
Flair's inward comment- Me had always
hated his debonair supposed
cousin, although he had always disguised
it. Lut now his hatred was mingled
witi? ?'iitetnpt.
The Imiel Flair had heen stopping at
was near the depot, and he was properdin;:
leisurely toward the station
when lie was aware that he was being
followed by a hulking panhandler, lie
turned and fared the fellow. It was
Luke l.ovell. a gypsy that Flair had |
seen sever.: I times in and around Fair- i
\ T'tc psy regarded him eagerly j
a ' fouche I !.is h it
"It's ;t surprise to meet you here. Mr. I
?*ia:tie\." ---'ill the fellow "I am out I
seeing the world; 1 am not a gy|?y any
more."
"No. you're a tramp now." replied '
'.la.r cootciiiptuottsly
"I'll admit I have tramped." returned l
t.i?\?.|l. not at till abashed "Fut 1 '
i.avc trau i ?m! to sonic good purpose. I J
tave tramped a couple of thousand i
niles. and now that I meet up witltj
von I ran tell you t know something |
you'd give a good many thousand dollars
to hear, heen use it would he worth
money and more than money to you if
von knew it."
Flair regarded the gypsy tramp with
a sneer. "It is funny." lie said, "you j
gypsies can tell everybody's fortune hut :
your own."
MJypsies sometimes tell their own
fortunes, too." retorted Lovell. Then!
a sudden idea seized liitu. "What a '
fool I am!" he cried. "Why. if 1 told
you what I knew you'd take ad vantage !
of It. liui you'd never give me u cent.!
The secret I have is one that 1 will |
he paid to keep and not to tell." And j
laughing sardonically the gypsy turned j
upoii his heel and swaggered away.
"It's <pteer what hoo'/.e will do to
them." thought the cynical Flair. "It's;
a wonder lie didn't try to borrow a dol- !
lur from me; I ladieve that's the price!
the gypsies ask to tell a man's fortune
They tell Women's fortunes cheaper."
Aim lie shruuucd his shoulders and
forum tin* incident in niusinu over Viv !
inn's desertion of himself and wonder
iiiu how his inotlier would treat him in j
Itiehinoinl.
Hut while her erstwhile husband is
traveling toward Hiehuiond the viva-|
cioiis Vivian, installed luxuriously at '
tlie best hotel, has wired her friend.
Mr Abraham Hloom, that she Is in
Los Auireles and, haviuu ~?d rid of
lilair Stanley, hopes to find some trace
of the diamond from the sky. of
course she has telegraphed for funds
to Mr. Hloom as well.
In din- time she receives an answer
iiiU message. Mr. Hloom gallantly no-I
lilies her that lie is telourapiling her
Sothi and that lie expects her to stayin
the far west, in the big eities near1
where the train robbery was committed.
for the purpose of locating 'he
r ! < ? I f liiU'nl wlii/O. \ I .. Ill" 1 -
v .. , j? .1 v I 1. I IV II .III. I IIIIUIII IS UlMUr- |
j mined lo possess.
In I'it'lliMrs. Stanley still maintains
her attitude of kindly interest in
r. titer. Mrs. Randolph is overjoyed
to have a protect; of Rather* s dlstllic|
'ion of appearance and youth.
While llagitr is placed in a supltar- j
111:1 malcr the l?cst of care Rather feeds
that she has at last found friends in
ler loneliness, and she keeps up a good
lean in the hope that her foster 1110th
r will he restored to reason. Often
lie appeals to the doctors to save her
not Iter's reason. .
v
She hopes also Arlhni4 will return
:1111 he cleared from the suspicion of
milt that attache* to hint since his
iiuht under the accusation of Ixdug
he murderer of her guardian. Or. Lee.
>*iit Rather little dreams that the
ah.ts of thought and the cold atuhi*
on of a lifetime are not- easily
hanged. Itlulr Stanley's mother, in
mm* austere way. has been kind to
1st her. It Is true, and the frlvolout
!r?. Uaudftlpli is kind, ami also genrotis
Km Mr*. Randolph i* only a tool In
n? ir^nd* of hop rtflntlve. Mr*. Stnn\v.
*1 lit! ICtMher hut the riefltlnetl vie,'m
??f itliilr'x mother's secret |>itr|H?A?.
l'lic one pen I friend thut Bstlier hat
|
BMum
v.
>'- v * 'ii .
IP, . 1
- -, , /- _2?_-_^s?y
i
Esther and Hagar, Her Insane Foster j
Mother.
iu Richmond is Quabbn. Both he and
Esther have realized It will not do for
the humble hunchback organ grinder
to be seen in proximity to the young
girl, Mrs. Randolph's latest protege,
"being introduced into the best circles |
of Richmond." as that social light of j
the old southern capital would have
phrased !t.
But every day at a certain hour
Quabbn goes by the Randolph house.,
up the quiet side street. Fie does not i
pause to play his vulgar tunes in sucli:
hallowed precincts. lie slips quietly
O. .1.- i ...
t.1^. um i/Miin i? ? i uu? \> iiiii'j?v or nor
room each day to see him pass, ami
they have arranged * signal should
ever Kstlnir need this humble, faith
fill friend.
The signal is a vase of roses. When
this is placed upon the window sill
QuabLm knows it is a sign that Ksther 1
needs him, ami day by day ho passes i
and is relieved to see that the signal
is not displayed and all is well.
Ksther, for the sake of the absent
Arthur, on whom her thoughts constantly
dwell, has carefully hidden the
documents at Stanley hall that she \
found in Hagar's strong box. She has
said no word to those around her that
would Indicate she deems herself to
bo other than the gypsy daughter of
the mentally elouded gypsy woman
whom the surgeons of Richmond hope
to restore to reason such time as she
i; m
t M
?1^1
Esther In Richmond Society.
is in < omlit i > 11 for the perilous opera-!
tIon that will lie necessary to ell'ect
I his.
1 >111 Kstlier knows she is a Stanley
of Stanley hall. It does not lessen her
alTeetioa for the a filleted gypsy woman
she has known as her mother.
Kstlier does not oven attempt to
.indue the motives that actuated Ilaguri
Hording in revenue for having been
deprived of her own child, who was'
reared as heir of Stanley, while she,
Kstlier. the true Stanley, though a girl!
and heir to no great title beyond the
sen, was brought up in the tawdry
surroundings of a gypsy camp. Rut:
the thought that ahe la a Stanley of j
Stanley hall, though it Ih? not known,
nor acknowledged, brings m glow of j
pride and courage to leather's heart.
She attribute* Mrs. Stanley'* auddea;
and substantial kindneee to her to the
run mat mm, 5*iuiley tui? mora than'
* ?ua|ii(.'l4in of who hIi* rightly la. But
*he Mint It In I ra a mother have tacitly
ignored the mutter. Katber enly kuowa
that her lore for Arthur' la greater
than her pride at being a Stanley of
Stanley hull.
She would rather arm her heart with !
patience and let event* ahape theiueel
vet aa a happy fate will decree, ahe
hopea.
Her dreams and hope* are all to one
i
lld, cohway, s 0.
end, and that ft that Arthur will return,
all auaptclon removed, and take
bis place as heir to Stanley. She docs
not know how to reconcile this hope
and dream with Mrs. Stanley's attitude.
But at present Mrs. Stnuley's
attitude Is kind, and Esther waits, possessing
her soul with patience aud her
heart with hopes and dreams.
Marmaduke Smythe. the English lawyer,
has given up his search for the
heir to the Stanley earldoui iu disgust.
He lias left the matter iu the hands of
Detective Tom Blake and departed for
England.
In his last Interview with Detective
Blake Smythe stated his opinion of
Yankees generally and the Yankee
Stanleys In particular.
"I can conscientiously say that 1 do
t !\i\l 1*? ?! t ????? * -- ^ *1.' A
nvi tut? viiiimit' ui iiiin ruiuiirj'
is conducive to a titled aristocracy.
Even the so called landed gentry are a
queer lot," said Lawyer Sm.vthe.
"When 1 was here eighteen years ago
to verify the birth of the Yankee heir
to the earldom I was in danger of tuy
life, I assure you.
"1 had hardly returned to England
when 1 learned of Colonel Stanley
dropping dead and Judge Stanley being
shot or tomahawked in the mountains
by natives, whether relatives or
savage redskins or a blackamoor tribe
nobody will ever know. For my part
I shall return to England and look
after the estates, and If this young
Arthur Stanley is caught and hanged
for murdering Dr. Lee. whom 1 remember
as a rather decent old cba}>.
why. the nest of kin, who is also a
ticket of leave man or something of
that sort, can come over and ciaim
the earldom.
"As for this diamond from the sky.
so called. 1 believe it is ail a hosw
I am going back to England and
look through the archives at Stanley
castle with the hope of establishing a
blood lino in Knjdand Hint may ^ot tlio
liouso of lords to acknowledge its claim
to t ho oarldom and out out those bloodthirsty
Yankee Stanleys and their
blooming bijr diamond!"
CHAPTER XXII.
To Seek Her Loverl
WTIKN Blair returned to Klchinouil
his mother received
him with remarkable corf
dintity. considering the conditions
under which lie had left both
Fairfax and Richmond. Abe Bloom,
the ^aniblin^: house keeper, and his
brother, Ike Bb*:>in. the pawnbroker
received him wilh a cold, husinessiike
indifference. which was rather strange
when it was remembered what both
those j^entleinen had endured at the
hands of Blair.
Hut both the Rlooms were so obsess
ed with the desire to secure the diamond
for their own at any cost that
they had casually remarked they were
glad to see liim and to "let bygones
be bygones."
Blair's mother had only shown one
touch of bitterness in her conversation
with him alone upon his return. This
wus \viicii she had informed him that
tiic* price of the silence of the two
dooms and the detective. T0111 Blake,
hail been her written agreement, which
Blair must sign also, that the diamond
from the sky must he relinquished to
the Blooms if it ever came into the
possession, legally or otherwise, of
Blair Stanley cm* his mother.
As for Tom Blake, the dote live, he
seemed to have no scruples one way or
the other, hut kept Itis own counsel
and worked diligently and silently for
his clients, ami them alone.
It did not seem to occur to the detective?at
least, he gave^io sign that
it did?that lie was compounding a felony
in suppressing (lie evidence he had
secured, which undoubtedly fastened
the guilt of I Jr. Lee's murder on Blair.
Mrs. Stanley had dismissed Vivian
Marston froui the matter by simply
stating to Blair that Abe Bloom had
informed her that the vivacious individual
in question had one. if not several,
previous husbands prior to her
marriage lo Blair.
"The minister who married you to
that creature lias moved away from
Richmond." said Blair's mother. "There
are reasons not necessary to intrust to
you that make It desirable that you
should marry list her Harding," Mrs.
Stanley had added.
And Blair looked upon Kstlier and
saw that she was fair. and. while his
infatuation for Vivian was still strong,
his unscrupulous mind dwelt with pleasure
upon the thought thai if lie married
Ksther the fact might arouse the
Jealousy of Vivian.
If Vivian was a married woman,
married other than to him. what would
it matter if he married Ksthcr? So
Blair paid court to Ksthcr.
Sjueli were the thread* in the web of
destiny thai wore being woven around
Ksther in Richmond.
Abe Bloom wove for the diamond
from the sky. In far Los Angeles his
agent, the luxurious Vivian Marston.
wove also for the diamond, but for
herself. Perhaps Mr. Bloom surmised
this, but if so he deemed he had the
means that held her at his mercy.
Mrs. Stanley wove her well for some
deep purpose of her own, deeper now
than it ever had been. If she *usplcloncd
Arthur's claims to the Stanley
heritages the earldom in Kugland
and the great diamond, so strangely
missing, hi America, were null and
old, she *ald ii(? word.
Blair thought only of Ids own desire*.
him.1 so he wove also.
Am for loeteetire Tom Blake, he helped
the wear Inf. too, but whether he
wove for Bloom or for Blair or for
Blair'a mother or for himaelt only Torn
Blake knew.
. a
In the far went a sheep herder who
caYled himself John Powell hn<l found
an outlaw's stolon plunder under the
iJHH^SIIk
^HMnjBXMi^^^^Hjflf
^^HHHKP^HEmhF
Luke Lovell Was Thrown From the
Train.
' skeleton of a horse in the desert. Few
who knew Arthur Stanley, the Unlit
and reek I crm young master of Stanley
hall, near Fairfax. Va? would have
recognised in this h'ron/.ed and shahhy
sheep herder the dashing scupegruco
who had boon suspected of murder.
Hut John Powell no Ioniser thought
of himself as Arthur Stanley. Ills
cheeks burned with shame at the recollection
of all the years he Inid mpniti:
tiered a heritage not his. He was a
K.vpsy ohaipfolinjn and impostor.
Hack In Fairfax, let theiu think him
a fugitive murderer. If the.v olioKe. lie
; would hide Ills time and return a rich
: tuan. stand Ills trial, and. without luii
plica lint: Itliitr. lie cleared. He felt an
| fl'.ldi'tl shame as he thought of Hlnir
Had as Hlitir was. iu?. John Howell.
; Arthur Stanley that had heen. had
' usurped his place. Hlair was the rightful
heir of Stanley, lie. as John Howell.
would make a name and fortune
for himself, and P.lalr nil in trood time
; ini^r111 have the Stanley earldom and
the diamond from the sky.
And then John Howell's thoughts
would turn to Ksther. Was she Ids sister.
or was she. too. a chanxcliiiK? He
thought of linear and his heart hardened.
She was his inotlier. hut she
had wrought hitterness and woe.
John Howell carefully laid out his
plans. He hid the outlaw treasure beneath
some sheltering rocks in the des,
ert. He took hut a few hundred dollars
of t!|r.' money, ile hided his time
in patience until the hue and cry after
such of the train rohhers as had escaped
with their lives had died down.
It was thought the survivors had gotten
awa\ with tlit* plunder. Only the
finder knew this plunder had fallen
under a dylnj: Imrse in the desert.
John Howell resolved he would relinquish
his employment as an ill paid
John Powell Regards the Wretch With
Cold Scorn.
! sheep herder in the next month and
take the stolen treasure with him and
make it the capital on which to found
! a great fortune in ttie hustling west.
: He salved his conscience with the
1 thought that when lie had built up
John'Powell's vast fortune he would
return the stolen money to the express
company anonyuiously.
Meanwhile Luke Lovell journeys
eastward again. Hut he cannot travel
as Blair Stanley and ot her fort una tes
with money travel. Luke Lovell returns
by freight. But in the de-sert the
trainmen throw him from his place on
tlie bumpers and mock him as. bruised
and sore, lie rises in the desert dust
to curse them as the freight train hears
them on.
Down the endless miles of railroad
track. across the dusty desert, he staggers.
itlimlcd by the sun. choking and
burtilug wit'll thirst and half delirious,
, be stumbles from the track and makes
hia way, fevered with delirium, across
the trackless desert.
Then by a low growing mass of
cacti something gleams before his aching
eyes, gieauis and Oaazle* him. is
it a vagary of his thirst madness, or is
K the diamond from ths sky, a fortune
within hie grasp?
Jfe lure ties forward and snatches u|i
i the diamond from whers ths train role
. ber in his death agony from tiie pur
HMiing ixMse's rifle bullets had caat It!
But Just as bis grimy 'hand closes
ujiou the great jewel a brown lanes
striken him. In the ringing of the fetter
In his brain be has not heard ths
i warning rattle of death guarding th?
i
I
diamond. !*?ut even In Ills delirium
the fevered intiln of Luke l.ovell know*
In* I lirusi of I ho brown lance.
A rattlesnake lets bitten him! Withhoarse
sci'vaui of despair ho confe
\ ulslvely throws up his hands. The
diamond tllos from his iiorvoless gra*p
and sottlos again in tho dust of the*
desert twenty feet away. uu<l Luke
l.ovell pitches forward on his face in
Ids agony, giving himself up as dead. I
So. half oonsclotis. John Powell* I
sheep herder, tiuds him. and so John I
Powell hears him to Ids lonely cump* II
tire and sueeors and restores hi in.
l.ovell Is al>le to moon his
fortunately his rescuer has a flask of MM
whisky and a canteen of water. He< I
doses the luilf conscious Luke. and.
whether tlie wliisky or whether the
sturdy constitution of the gypsy Is to
he credited I.uke l.ovell is brought II
hack from the jaws of death.
It Is a strange fate, the gypsy thinks..
when he can think coherently, that It
has been Ids .destiny to meet the real
and the usurping heir of Stanley uiul
to clutch again the priceless Stnul?V
heirloom, tlie diamond from the sky.
lie laughs sardonically and theu tells
Arthur, whom lie now recognizes aslie
recognized Itlnlr Stanley, that just
a row tinys since he lias met up with
the latter In Los Angeles.
"1 don't know what be had run away I
for." growled Luke, "but whatever It
was It had been aquarud, for 1 found'
out he was going back to ttlchfnon^l
Hut now thai you have saved uiy lifjIn
this (jod forsaken desert I'll do you
a favor?a big favor. I know something
tllflt the other Stanleys wumd^ I
give all they have to know. What
| you give me it I don't tell thein what
I know? Vou didn't kill that old doetor.
and 1 know that someday you aregoing
buck. What will you give me to\ ^^9
keep my month shut V"
John Powell regards with cold* I
scorn the wretch who ihus requites
him. lie knows what Luke would tell '
him. .lust at this time John Powell
desires to buy the silence of the trencherous
ami ungrateful gypsy. ' ^
"1 have that 1 have saved." is /
.liilin I 'OU IIH'C I'niil i- "l .......... .1.. ^
| .. .... ?? t 11*7 * L' I llf
sire to ho known au'Min as Arthur StanIcy.
But I linvo reasons why I do not
wis!) the secret you possess to ho
spread broadcast for the present. Yo.u/
are all ri^ht now. Take this money
and pi io ihe devil with it! But wllctll- fl
or I killed l)r. Loo or not. 1 will kill
you if you over say one word of what
you know. One tiling more. Who told
H|
"linear llut'ding." lied Luke Lovell B
glibly. Then, seeing an incredulous BB
look in the other's eyes, he added sue- BB
Illy: "Mauar's gone daffy: that's why B
she tohl me. Hut she don't talk to any-^
hotly now. and I know didn't toll
anybody else. They wou.u only think
she was raving if she tlitl. .Mrs. StanI
ley has taken Iter to IlichlUOtld to mi B
asylum. .Mi's Stanley has the irirl *
list her with her. Tlu-y are at Mrs. IH
J(ando!ph's. w here the ball was,'' adds
.joint row oil breathed a sigh of relief
Then all Is \vol| with Kstlier at^
least. lie does not question Lovcll I
further. realizing if l.ovcii knew might I
concerning Ksther the g.vpsy would I
have hluriod it out
And so Luke Lovcll, K.vpsy blackmailer,
and John Powell, sheep her- I
dor. part. Put as the gypsy goes
across the <1 ?sert to the ucares^ desert
town and railroad station lie searches,
ever sea relies, lor the diamonl from ^B
the sky. lie has not told John Pow- i I
oil of tlio diamond. Kven now li*? I
half believes that it was lait a figment
of his h ?at ora'/.ed brain. H
Some tulles across the desert travels I
a desert Indian faudly. They have H
two horses. One the buck rides at Ids H
ease, and (lie oilier drags a travois? I
the two rude poles fastened to the ? I
Iiorse, the ends of whlcli drag across H
t ho desert, and lashed to the polos are * H
the Indian's goods and chattels. 'fl
PesUU t he t ravols t rudges t lie squaw*. V H
On her hack her papoose sleeps, strap- H
pod to its hoard. in tho sun. H
Across tho desert tho Ira vols scratch- I
os its way. Tho o.vos of tho squaw 1
fall upon tli?* fresh tracks that if
makes. A little spray of sand sprinklos
over something that glistens jH
brightly in tho sun. Tito sqtinw stoops ,k.
down and pithors up the diamond from
the sky and wtlkos her papoose to fl
shake the now found gleaming trinket I
plaything before its beady eyes. I
So the days pass in Virginia and
California alike. John Powell oca sen I
to l>e a sheep herder, and. ttlkltlg With I
him nearly $100,000 cash in his hat- I
tcrcd old valise. Unknown to any man. I
he bids good by to Ids friends at the t I
sb<s?l> ranch, ami pausing only in Eos I
Angeles to buy a becoming outfit of I
business clothes. he goes to tho nd.ja- I
cent oil liehls to. as lie says to himself
grimly, buy himself rich!
He Writes to Esther, guardedly and
without signature, from I,os Angeles.
The letter reaches Esther in the nick
of time. Mrs.' Randolph's maid gives
it to her, informing her that Mrs. Stan- ]
it-j ii?? iwiumi oruers nuu ir any lot tor
should come to Knitter that it 1k? detivoro<!
to Mrs. Stanley first.
The persecutions of Rlalr Stanley
have become Intolerable, and when
Esther has gone defiantly to Blair's
mother Mrs. Stanley has taunted her
with the cruel retort that she (Rather)
Is a IteKKttr on the bounty of the toother
of the man who honors her with an
offer of marriage. .
( Furtlier. Mrs. Stanley lolly remtnda ^
Esther that since Hagnr lias lost her
reason no trace of the suppoaed w ealth
, of linear can be found. The operation
necessary to restore Ilagar's mind \vW
eoet $1,000. If Rather accepts Blatr,
Mrs. Stanley Informs her. this money
will be forthcoming, and the operatWm
will 1* |?erformed.
It is on the point of Esther's tongue ^
I